The poster for the horror film The Last Exorcism uses various design elements to convey the film's genre and themes. The title is prominently displayed in all capital red letters to draw attention and communicate urgency. The main image features the character Nell in an unnatural pose, surrounded by shadows and cracks, suggesting she is being consumed by evil. Her white dress contrasts with the darkness and represents innocence. The tagline "Believe in him" creates suspicion and references religious themes. Overall, the poster intrigues audiences through its shocking imagery and involvement of popular film studios and creators to promote the horror film.

1. OliviaWigglesworth
Analysing Film Posters
The Last Exorcism
The title of the filmisprominentlyfeatured atthe bottom
of the posterinall capitalsso itdraws the audience’s
attentionbyitlookingurgentasif it’sbeingshoutedatthe
audience.The fontof the textmakesthe cornersof the
lettersseemsharpto implementthe ideaof dangerinto
the audiencesmind.The textalsohas inkblotsonto
possiblysuggestthatthe personwasina rush to write the
title possiblysuggestingthatthe writerwasindanger.
Some of the textssuchas writersanddirectorsnamesare
featuredinredcapital letters sothatthe audience looksat
the productionteam namesas theyare quite famous
namesinthe filmindustrysuchas “Eli Roth” whichhave a
bigfollowingespeciallyinthe horrorfilmworld.The use of
the red textalsotiesinwiththe horror filmgenre ashorror
filmsare knowntohave the conventionof havingbloodin
the filmwhichthe redshowswell asit’sthe same colour.
The colour redalsorepresentsanelementof dangerwhichtellsthe audience thatthe filmwill
feature elementsof danger.The use of redonposterstextalsolinksinwiththe religiousthemesof
the filmas the colourredis oftenassociatedwith“The Devil”inreligion.
I feel thatthe posterreflectsthe horrorgenre tothe audience verywell throughitsuse of colourand
unnervingimages. The mainimage features“Nell”whoisplayedbyAshleyBell whoisthe girl inthe
filmwhichgetsexorcized. Asshe isinthe centre of the posterwhichmakesherthe mainfocal point
of the poster,indicatingthatshe isa keycharacterin the film. The positionthatshe is standinginis
clearlyunnatural whichisactually averysimilarpositiontothe original characterof “Regan” inthe
exorcist. The use of the shadowbehindthe girl isveryeffective asit symbolisesherbeingconsumed
by somethingandasthe shadowis black itis effective asdarknessisoftenassociatedwithevil. I
thinkthat the shadowreflectsthe darktone of filmwhichshowsthe clearhorrorgenre throughthe
use of the darkness. The background/setting of the posterisa plainwhite backgroundwhichcould
representinnocence of the littlegirl.The backgroundalsohasbitsof cracks and we can see the dirty
floorboardsunderneathherwhichcouldsuggestthatitis setin a decrepitandpossiblyabandoned
house suggestingthatthe girl hasbeenneglected. There is alsoacrucifix above the younggirl’s body
whichshows thatthe filmrelates toreligionandinterlinkswith the exorcismbased storyline.Nell’s
clothesconsistof a dresswhichiswhite torepresentholinessandinnocence aslittle girlsare
portrayedas innocentandpure.The dressshe iswearingistatteredanddirtywhichshowsthat she
couldhave beena victimof neglect.
The image standingalone withoutthe textcouldpossiblylook likeareal life image whichcouldmake
the audience possiblybelieve thatthe filmisbasedonatrue storylike alot of popularhorror films
of ourera claimto be. The positioningandframing of thispostersmainimage isveryimportantas
we can see the image of Nell inthe centre.Nell isconsiderablydarkerthanthe white background

2. OliviaWigglesworth
whichcontrastsverywell asit bringsthe audience’sattentiontoherfeaturedinthe centre asthe
darkness makesherstandout clearly.
The tagline forthe filmreads “Believeinhim”whichcreatesanelementof suspicionwiththe
audience andmakesthemwantto findoutwhothe man is thattheyare speakingabout. The “Him”
couldalsobe linkedwiththe themeof religionsuggestingtothe audience that‘he’couldbe Satan.
The date isn’tactuallyfeaturedhoweverthe filmhasa“comingsoon” label atthe bottomof the
posterso that the audience looksatthe comingsoonlastso that theirfocusispulledtothe main
image andthe title of the film.
In termsof othertextfeaturedonthe posterwe see the companies“StudioCanal”and“Lionsgate”
filmwhichhelpsthe postersellasthese companiesare highlypopularandhave distributedand
producedhighlysuccessful andpopularfilms.Underneaththe “ComingSoon”we are actuallygiven
a website togoto for the filmto findoutmore informationaboutthe film.The directorandwriters
of the filmare alsofeaturedatthe bottomof the posterwhere theirnamesare featuredinred
writinginorderto make the namesstandout to the audience.
I believethatthe posterispersuasive mainlyby providingshockvalue viathe picture usedonthe
posterwhichintriguesthe audience tofindouthow the girl endedupthe waythat she is shownin
the picture.The posteralsointriguesthe audiencebyshowingbigfilmcompaniesandbignamesin
the filmindustrytomake the audience wanttosee the filmmade bypeople thattheyrecognise.